Addie stood. “Since it’s agreed, I’ll go ask him.” She stopped and turned back to place her hand on Ronan’s shoulder. “I am happy you are home, and we will talk when there is time.”
“I look forward to it, Mother,” Ronan said, and Addie kissed his cheek before she hurried off.
“I don’t know why the three of you,” Zia said, pointing from Cavan, to Lachlan and finishing with Artair, “must be so mean to your mother when it comes to Hagen. She has a right to fall in love again.”
“Mother’s in love with Hagen?” Ronan asked incredulously.
“You had to say he was a good man,” Lachlan accused.
“He is,” Alyce insisted. “If only any of you would take the time to talk with him.”
“Does he love her?” Ronan asked.
“Don’t even suggest it,” Artair said.
“Why?” Honora asked. “Zia is right. Your mother has a right to love again, and I believe your father would want her to.”
“Not with Hagen,” Cavan said emphatically.
“Why?” Alyce demanded with a sharp tongue though she let no one answer. “Could it be because he’s a mercenary?”
“She deserves better,” Cavan said.
“She deserves to love whoever she wishes to love,” Honora said. “And Hagen is a good man. Ronan knows him and can vouch for his character.”
“Hagen is also an honorable man,” Ronan said. “I fought beside him in battle and would stand beside him again in battle. He would keep Mother safe, and though his large size might frighten some, he is a gentle soul.”
“I told you,” Zia said, with a poke to her husband’s arm.
“Not all mercenaries are what you think,” Ronan said. “Most are forced into the life out of necessity, some are sold into it and must fight to buy their freedom, but many are good men.”
“How did you come to be part of the mercenaries?” Lachlan asked.
“I was sold to them.”
“Why didn’t you contact us?” Artair asked. “We would have seen to your freedom immediately.”
Ronan knew they needed answers as to why he hadn’t returned home, and while he wanted them to have those answers, he wasn’t sure if he knew them all himself.
“There were things I had to do,” he said, hoping that for now his response would suffice.
“This discussion is better left for another time,” Cavan said. “We need to speak of more pressing matters at hand.”
Ronan was relieved though there was one more matter he felt he needed to address.
“You haven’t asked me about Carissa,” Ronan said, looking to his brother Cavan.
“I assumed you took care of the matter.”
“I have discovered information that could be vital in regard to her punishment,” Ronan said. “She took ill before we could return.”
“Is she all right?” Zia asked with concern.
“With your grandmother’s help, she got well,” Ronan said. “Unfortunately, she left to attend to an important matter and promises to return to face judgment.”
“You let her go?” Lachlan asked, stunned, while all remained dead silent.
“No,” he admitted with a sense of guilt. “She left without my knowledge.”
“Then how do you know she will return?”
Leave it to Artair to ask the most practical question. And while he had an answer, “she gave her word” would certainly make him appear a fool.
“This can also be left for another time,” Cavan said. “We have more important matters on our hands. We don’t know if these two groups are joining forces to attack us, or if they have a dispute to settle. Either way, I don’t like the fact that they are close to Sinclare land.”
Before the discussion continued, the women left to look in on the children, though Alyce was quick to return, assuring Lachlan that his son Roark was sound asleep and in good hands with Mia, the older woman who helped look after him.
Ronan wanted to take a moment to see to his horse, but Cavan had a lad see to it. And soon they were all in deep discussion again, arguing, anxious to decide on a suitable plan of action.
Hagen returned with Addie, and Ronan was surprised to see how their eyes sparkled when they looked at each other and how their hands remained clasped as Hagen spoke with the others.
Unlike his brothers, he was happy for his mother, but then he knew Hagen, and he knew that he would be good to Addie. He would protect her with his life.
Ronan stood as soon as Hagen and his mother reached the table and greeted Hagen with a bear hug.
“It is good to see you again,” Hagen said.